Look at all of the shiny lights!

Another city, another basketball game. We arrived in Memphis this morning, and after wading through Iowa State fans in town for the Bowl game tomorrow, we watched Memphis have an easy time winning over Loyola Maryland.

The FedEx Forum is the stadium used for both the University of Memphis Tigers and the Memphis Grizzlies. Since that was the case, it had a very NBA feel. It was also larger than any of the other arenas we’ve been to.

Though the atmosphere felt professional, Memphis still managed to treat us to the most college-y game yet. This was the first game that we’ve been to that had a band! How exciting! Rather than rap music with questionable lyrics at the breaks, we got to hear an excited band play songs such as “Love Shack” and that Ozzy Osbourne song where they say “Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay.” There was also a mascot, which was infinitely more adorable than the weird Wildcat in Cincy. This Tiger was so cute and cuddly that I tried to figure out a way to bring him home.

There were also cheerleaders and a dance team! I thought the announcer kept calling the dancers the Memphis Pop, but turns out it’s actually the Memphis Pom. The husband coined the phrase “Future Cougars” to describe the team. They did a number of routines, and were actually quite good. They were leaps and bounds better than the Cincy ladies, and I would almost say they’re better than the Illinettes (don’t tell anyone I said that). The hot dog received a solid 7.5 from my hot dog connoisseur, and I skipped the nachos which were the now overly familiar salty goop. SLU, I’m counting on you to provide me with something different.

Our seats were way up in the nosebleeds, and that might’ve contributed to the lack of excitement during the actual game. That and the fact that our seat neighbors spent most of the game turned around talking to their friends behind them. I’m not sure if they had any idea what was going on at any point. The first half proved to be somewhat interesting, and it looked like Loyola Maryland would give Memphis  an actual game. At the half, Memphis had the lead, 37-33. This was going to be a much higher scoring game than we were used to.

Memphis pulled away quickly in the second, partially because of the two technical fouls in a row from Loyola. There were also at least two intentional fouls from Loyola, which were part of their 26 total. This meant that Memphis went to the line a lot, and had they made those buckets the game would’ve been wrapped up even quicker. Memphis went to the line a whopping 41 times (I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a game with that many trips), and they  made 29 of those. On the flip side, Loyola went to the line just 17 times. It was fun to see former Illini Stan Simpson in action yet again, and it was nice to see he was as useful for the Tigers as he was for the Illini before transferring.

Thanks to those fouls (Memphis was in the bonus with about 11 minutes left), the game dragged on a wee bit. Despite the lame fans next to us, most people seemed genuinely interested in what was happening on the court. The arena was pretty full, and the attendance was announced at over 16,000. It’s clear that people in Memphis like their basketball.In appreciation, the Tigers employed a proper introduction, which included lasers, and the kind of rumbling music that gets the fans, and the players, truly pumped. So on the whole the atmosphere was the most exciting, but also felt much more like a professional game. It was fun to experience a win for the home team.

Tomorrow is the last stop on our trip, where we’ll revisit the Lobos as they head to SLU. Then, sadly it’ll be time to head back to the real world.

Here we go again.

For whatever reason, making a song about your school, sticking a catchy (or semi-catchy) beat behind it, and filming a video on your campus has become a thing. South Carolina may or may not have started it (I really don’t know) with “Rock Out (With Your Gamecock Out)“, and now schools everywhere have their own pseudo-theme songs.

The most recent school to get involved? Clemson University.

An artist who goes by the name ChadRoc put out this video/song, entitled “Tigerama”, as an ode to the Tigers. Let’s watch/listen, shall we?

Yeah. Um. Some comments:

• Orange and purple together will never be an appealing color choice.
• “Nobody’s fanbase is nowhere near thicker.” Ignoring the heinous grammar, a lot of your fanbase is also either delusional, living in the past, or straight up crazy. Just saying.
• I’m glad you can spell Clemson over and over again, sir. That’s cool.
• “We don’t play no games, we don’t do this for fun.” Football isn’t a game nor is it fun? Watching football isn’t fun? This is news to me.
• “Breaking records like the Guinness.” Oh, you mean like giving up a record number of points in a BCS bowl?
• You are not No. 1. Don’t lie.
• You called Dabo Swinney a man who provides “the best coaching.” You’ve lost all credibility ever.

As a South Carolina alumna, I’m obviously biased. This wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t awesome, and it could have been a lot better. After all, that darn “We Are Mizzou” song is still stuck in my head, and the guys behind that gem were nerdy dudes from Missouri (no offense, Missourians).

Final thought: can we please be done with the school rap songs now? We need a new trend.

You guys remember that “We Are Mizzou” video I posted yesterday?

Some guys from Kansas who apparently thought they were cool and/or funny made a rebuttal, which they call a music video, despite the fact that it features pretty much no music. Just watch for yourself:

Uh. Yeah. Thanks for playing, Jayhawks.

For some reason, rap videos made by students to rep their school have become somewhat of a trend recently. You may remember the videos that LSU and Georgia students made before the SEC title game last month, wherein they taunted each other and tried to hype up their respective fanbases.

Missouri, who will join the SEC next season, is the latest university to participate in this fad. The Tigers apparently thought they needed to introduce themselves to their new conference mates, and chose this way to do it:

On the one hand, it made me laugh, and good for them for being proud of their school. On the other hand, this is just a disastrous mess. THERE IS AUTOTUNE, Y’ALL. I mean, it certainly brings the lulz, but sweet mercy. There also appear to be people doing “the creep”, the move from the video with The Lonely Island and Nicki Minaj. These dudes are seriously, seriously nerdy, and while that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be quality rappers…they’re not quality rappers. That being said, I know this was probably just for fun, so props to them for doing their thing.

The chorus features the line, “Screw red and blue, we are Mizzou, we are Mizzou”, and the song is obviously meant to show the Tigers’ superiority over their longtime rival, Kansas. There are also mentions of the SEC, though. The main point of the video is the current succcess of the Missouri basketball team, which is nice and all, but the SEC is not really a basketball conference (save for you, Kentucky, and sometimes Florida/Vandy). If you were trying to establish a bond and earn some respect, football would have been a better route, Mizzou kids.

Most people who’ve seen this video (outside of Tigers fans, I guess), are hardly impressed. Comments on various sites ask if the video is a joke, say the video, like Mizzou, is weak, and imply that Missouri should focus more on how they’re going to prepare for the big boys in the SEC than on making ridiculous productions like this one.

All I have to say is, welcome to the SEC, Mizzou. We can’t wait to beat you.

Ahhh, Clemson, this is why you can’t have nice things.

Chad Kelly, the nephew of former NFL star Jim Kelly, is going to be a quarterback for the Tigers. That’s not all, though. Kelly is also the subject of a rap.

This “rap” about Kelly has been posted on SoundCloud, and basically involves the artists saying his name a lot and attempting to rhyme. The beginning of the song goes like this:

“Chad Kelly, number 12. Swag. Under Armour All-American. Swag. Player of the Year, All-State. Swag.” You get the drift (swag).

Um. I just…can’t There are so many questions begging to be answered. Why did you make this in the first place? Why did you put it on the internet? Do you truly believe you have rapping skills? Are you aware that you claim he possesses a lot of swag? Do you have a lot of difficulty remembering the guy’s name?

There are also excerpts from real stories about Chad which highlight his accomplishments. I mean, if you’re that much of a superstar, couldn’t you just let your play speak for you? Evidently there is just too much swag in Kelly’s veins to keep quiet.

Also, if you check Kelly’s twitter feed, you’ll see that he doesn’t appear to be acquainted with proper grammar (swag?). Speaking of twitter, Chad seems to be following in the footsteps of some of his future teammates, as he’s tweeted some questionable things as of late.

Because he’s got swag, Kelly tweeted the following:

» Continue reading “Chad Kelly: Future QB AND Rap Sensation?”

A tweet from a Clemson beat writer...

It’s finally (virtually) official – and it’s apparently for real this time. After news reports went back and forth with “truths” all day, multiple tweets have just confirmed that current Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brett Venables is leaving the Sooners to join Dabo Swinney’s staff at Clemson.

Stories flew back and forth between Clemson and Norman today with the Tigers saying Venables was coming and OU saying he wasn’t going anywhere, but it appears that was just delaying the inevitable.

...and a tweet from an Oklahoma beat writer.

After their atrocious showing in the Orange Bowl, the Tigers defense urgently needs help, and they’re hoping Venables will be able to right the ship.

As for Oklahoma, Mike Stoops, brother of Sooners coach Bob, was set to share DC duties with Venables, so now I guess they’ll be his alone.

Look for all the details on this story from Amanda on Ride Schooner, Ride.

This pretty much sums it up.

Whoa.

After dominating team after team in the regular season, No. 1 LSU (13-1) got a taste of their own medicine tonight, as they were shut out 21-0 by No. 2 Alabama (12-1) in the BCS National Championship Game.

The Tigers came out flat and never got into any sort of rhythm. QB Jordan Jefferson was clearly not on his game, but head coach Les Miles refused to put back up Jarrett Lee in. He later told Erin Andrews it was because Jefferson was a better option, but I don’t know how that could possibly be true.

Not even stud punter Brad Wing or the Honey Badger, Tyrann Mathieu, could save LSU. Wing started out strong, but his performance petered out as the game went on, and Mathieu wasn’t able to come up with any of his signature big plays. All of that, combined with a fumbled snap, penalties, and an interception, was a recipe for disaster for the Tigers. After the game, Jefferson said:

“Alabama just had a great game plan for us, you know, stifling our offense and moving the ball on our defense.”

Indeed. Bama was clearly determined to win. QB AJ McCarron (the game’s offensive MVP) was 23 of 34 for 234 yards and no picks. He didn’t throw any touchdowns, either, and the only time the Tide found the endzone was on a run by Trent Richardson late in the game. It was the first and only touchdown scored in both games between these two teams this season. Richardson finished with 20 carries for 96 yards and the score.

The rest of the Tide’s points were scored by kicker Jeremy Shelley, who avenged his awful performance last time these two teams met. Though he had a field goal attempt blocked, missed another FG attempt, and also missed an extra point, Shelley still put points on the board.

» Continue reading “Tigers Tamed: Crimson Tide Win National Championship”

LSU's Tyrann Mathieu and Alabama's Trent Richardson will be key players in Monday night's national title game.

Well, well, well. After the so-called Game of the Century turned out to be kind of a dud, the No. 1 Tigers and No. 2 Crimson Tide will meet again, this time in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game (Monday, 8:30 ET, ESPN).

LSU is perfect so far this year, while Bama has only one loss – and it came against the Tigers. Les Miles, bizarre as he may be, has coached his team fantastically this season, and despite adversity (Jordan Jefferson and co. being in a bar fight, Tyrann “Honey Badger” Mathieu and his synthetic pot, etc.), the Tigers have proved week in and week out that they’re a force to be reckoned with.

Nick Saban has done a pretty great job himself, though his team’s kicking leaves more than a bit to be desired. A more solid performance by the kickers would almost certainly have guaranteed the Tide a victory over LSU earlier this year, but missed field goal after missed field goal was too much to overcome. The only thing more embarrassing than all those misses was the guy who got caught on camera on the verge of tears in the stands.

Each team brings a Heisman finalist to the table, Mathieu on the LSU side and Trent Richardson from Alabama. There’s a wealth of talent on both teams, and with any luck, this game will be much more interesting than the first time these two met this season. The game is being played in New Orleans, so it’s sort of like a home game for the Tigers. There’s no doubt that Bama fans will travel well, though.

» Continue reading “We Meet Again: LSU – Alabama Preview”